Coming in Fall 2024*
Redesign the Future of Housing - "Design the Future" Contest
The Design the Future program was designed to address the lack of affordable housing in the US. Cities and towns are often more expensive to live in, causing many to commute or live in substandard housing. The program allows students and the community to become involved in creating workforce housing to benefit workers making above sixty percent of the median income.
Design the Future: Fostering Creativity in Sustainable Housing
Affordable and sustainable housing doesn’t have to be boring. It should stand out as being sustainable and functional. Creating affordable housing plans that fill the needs of families is a challenge where university and college students can use their creativity to draft functional and sustainable housing communities. Create functional and sustainable housing and communities that can help bring people of diverse backgrounds and various income levels together.
Design the Future is a program open to university and college students to show off their talents while contributing to a sustainable future. Design categories include residential homes, apartments, and workforce housing communities. Affordable housing and sustainable communities create a more environmentally conscious, resilient, and inclusive environment.
Addressing the Need for Affordable Housing
Community affordable housing solutions are at a premium where they are most needed: Near public transit in cities where many people work.[1] While more affordable housing is located in rural areas, this does not aid in affordability because of transportation costs. Currently, housing market solutions do not provide nearly enough affordable housing and sustainable communities within reach of workplaces.
Fruition is a developer and builder that invests in affordable housing and sustainable communities. Companies like ours work with government agencies and other professionals to create green, affordable housing that includes energy-efficient appliances, green building materials, and access to daylight and other natural resources.
Green housing has been increasing since the 1990s, as it lessens the environmental impact while allowing the workforce to live in affordable mixed communities close to workplaces.
Sustainable Housing Design Inspiration
Creative, affordable housing solutions not only allow those who couldn’t otherwise afford to purchase or rent a dwelling near their workplace a safe place to live and raise a family. These sustainable communities are also good for the environment. Architecture and housing design are crucial areas for innovative designs to take place.
You can draw inspiration from real-life examples around the globe that showcase many solutions and approaches.
- Create home designs that use thermal mass and ventilation to help maintain comfortable year-round temperatures without using much electricity.
- Design a community that uses green roofs, rainwater harvesting systems, solar panels, and energy-efficient building materials and appliances.
- Create a pedestrian-friendly design with biodiversity, residential units, and commercial amenities.
- Design a community based on a high-rise that has its own park surrounding the building. It should have plenty of trees and plants for natural air purifiers and noise buffers. The area should be able to support wildlife, including birds and squirrels.
- Create a community built using hempcrete, a mixture of hemp fibers and lime. Hempcrete provides excellent insulation properties and helps with carbon sequestration.
- Design a community that achieves net-zero energy consumption using renewable energy integration, advanced insulation, passive solar design, energy-efficient appliances, and photovoltaic panels.
- Create comfortable living spaces that could be used in a community or as a renovation of a single-family residential unit that uses solar panels, heat pumps, and energy-efficient systems.
- Some large cities that would benefit from workforce housing are right on our coasts. Design floating homes using recycled materials and solar energy. The design must be lightweight and resilient to the harsh seas and salt.
- Create a community that includes residential units and commercial buildings that use renewable energy systems, locally sourced materials, permaculture gardens, and waste management initiatives.
- Design a community built using earthbags filled with local soil to create disaster-resistant housing in earthquake-prone areas. Use eco-friendly materials and renewable energy to power the community.
These are just a few designs used worldwide to create sustainable housing and communities. You can combine more than one of these ideas in the same design or create your own unique housing solution.
Addressing Workforce Housing Needs
Fruition, along with government agencies and other builders, work together to bring workforce housing to metropolitan areas.[2] Workforce housing is one of the critical aspects of community planning that is almost always overshadowed. Most cities have plenty of affordable housing for those who earn less than 60 percent of the median income for the area. Still, there is never enough for those who earn 60 to 120 percent of the median income for the area.
Workforce housing provides safe, affordable, and sustainable housing for those who make too much for affordable housing but do not have enough to purchase housing on the market. These workers and professionals include healthcare workers, teachers, first responders, service industry employees, and others who make America tick.
When housing is unavailable to these demographics due to their income levels, people are forced into overcrowding situations, long commutes, and financial strain. These issues affect the well-being of the workers and their families, as well as economic productivity and community resilience.
Stagnant wages, increasing real estate prices, and zoning restrictions contribute to the shortage of workforce housing.[3] Investing in workforce housing allows people to live closer to work, reduces commute times and transportation expenses, and reduces greenhouse gasses.
Sustainable Housing Design Inspiration
Sustainable housing design is the future of urban living. Cutting-edge technologies, eco-design, and more give architects and designers plenty of room for sustainable housing design. Practical strategies and real-world examples offer many concepts designers and architects can incorporate into designs for sustainable communities and workforce housing.
Unleash Your Creativity with Equitable Housing Solutions
Those who earn Outstanding CAD Student Awards for sustainable housing have their designs judged based on several criteria, including:
- Creativity: Design innovation is not the only thing judges look at. Creative and innovative designs must also be original.
- Functionality: A design only does people good if it’s practicable. The design should always meet the needs of the average working family, including the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, quality environmentally friendly appliances, and plenty of storage space.
- Sustainability: Use eco-friendly materials and practices when creating designs for workforce housing in sustainable communities.
- Community Impact: When designing sustainable communities, judges consider the community impact, including social and workforce housing considerations.
Recognition and Rewards
Winning designs will be chosen based on creativity, functionality, and sustainability. Winners will be invited to an awards ceremony to receive recognition for outstanding achievements and will have their designs featured on our website and promotional materials.
Get Involved
If you want to get involved in Design the Future, we have opportunities for students, educators, industry professionals, and community members. Students in universities and colleges can participate in the design challenge, while educators can promote it and integrate it into their courses. Industry professionals and community members can become mentors or judges.
How to Enter
You can help by entering our Design the Future contests. Students can create sustainable housing and community designs, educators can help promote the program by implementing it into their courses, and professionals and the community can help with judging.
Let us know a little bit about you, including your course of study if you are a student and the classes you teach if you are an educator. If you wish to help with judging, let us know about your experiences with the community and any experience working with builders, developers, or workforce communities. Those who work with eco-friendly materials and practices also have valuable knowledge to share.
To enter our Design the Future contests, contact Fruition via our Facebook page or by completing the contact form on our website.
Learn More About Sustainable Housing Communities
Creating sustainable housing and communities uses eco-friendly materials and methods to develop innovative, inspiring, and functional residential homes and apartments. Modular construction and smart home systems enhance home efficiency and reduce greenhouse gasses, as do homes built with alternative, eco-friendly materials.
Many designers, builders, and developers incorporate natural elements, including natural ventilation, sunlight, and greenery, to help create sustainable communities. They also use eco-friendly materials and implement energy-efficient systems, including solar panels and geothermal heating, to help reduce their carbon footprint.
Developers like Fruition collaborate with students to help design sustainable workforce housing that addresses real-world challenges, including sustainability and affordability. The students are recognized and rewarded for design excellence. We encourage students, educators, industry professionals, and the community to get involved in creating sustainable workforce housing communities.
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*contest details to be announced and are subject to change until finalized dates, rules, and regulations have been announced. Any dates mentioned are estimates.
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